When I first decided to buy the Sur-ron I had resolved to get the Fastace forks as they were the "Premium" for at the time. Unfortunately when the bikes were available Sur-ron had discontinued using the Fastace forks due to quality issues resulting in the coatings on some of the forks to fail. I didn't do my research enough and thought that the DNM forks were the next best thing, so chose them over the RST forks. I have since learned that the DNM forks do not have the best reputation when it comes to performance and are jokingly referred to as "Do Not Move" forks. DOH!

Fortunately Adam had a spare set of Fastace forks and offered me an opportunity to try them out. They came in a box with a complete set of new triple clamps and an axle. I bought a new headset bearing kit too as there have been a couple of reports of the stock headsets loosening up because of a plastic spacer being used. Adam reckoned the newer bikes come with an aluminium spacer now, but he wasn't 100% sure so advised that I get the new Matrix Headset bearing kit given they are only $15 and at some stage I was likely to need them. That turned out to be good advice as you will see.

The headset bearings on these bikes appear to be the same as mountain bike ones, and they are quite different to motorcycle ones I've worked on in the past. Rather than having a nut on the stem that you tighten, there is a screw on the top of the stem that pulls against the handlebar mount to sit the headset firmly. The Sur-ron has a nice little rubber plug in the nut that needs to be removed first.

With that out the bolt can be removed and the stem cap taken off. Notice how the stem sits a few mm below the top of the handlebar bracket? That is important so that the cap presses down on the top of the handlebar clamp and pulls the stem up in order to hold the bottom steering stem bearing in place so the triples are nice and solid.

With the cap removed, the handlebar mount slips off to expose a spacer that is about 10mm tall in order to have the stem sitting the few mm below the top of the handlebar that is needed.

With the triple clamps removed the cap covering the top bearing is exposed and can be removed. Under it is a spacer that has a beveled edge that pushes down on the top bearing without binding it. With those removed the bearing is exposed and can be knocked out using a long punch, working around the bearing a little at a time until it pops out.

The bottom bearing can then be punched out too using the same technique. When that bearing dropped out I saw that it is not a sealed bearing, but it wasn't too badly greased at least.

I cleaned up the steering head with a bit of 800 grit sandpaper, then using a plank of wood and a "knockometer" I prove the new sealed bearings from the Matrix headset kit into the steering head - to and bottom.

On the left is the new Matrix headset kit, and on the right is the OEM headset and the stem spacers that I removed. I didn't realise it but the Fastace stem is a bit longer than the OEM one for the DNM forks, so when I first put everything back together there was a lot of play in the headset no matter how much I tightened the cap bolt. That was because the stem stuck out above the top of the handlebar mount so no tension could be put on the stem. My options were to either cut the stem, which I was NOT keen on doing, or replacing the 10mm spacer (in the red box in the image below) with a taller one. I went to the local bike shop and fortunately he had one which was 13mm, so I bought that and user it in place of the OEM one.

The next "challenge" I was presented with was that the Fastace triples needed "star-flanged nut" to be installed in it in order to give the cap bolt something to screw into and pull the stem together. The Matrix headset kit included a new star-flanged nut, but it is quite significantly larger in diameter than the internal diameter of the stem tube. That is so it can bite into the stem when put under tension, but that means it needs to be driven into the stem straight to the right depth using a special tool... which I do not own!

Undeterred I resorted to Google and found a guy who had a genius DIY method using a long 11mm quarter inch socket that you put the head bolt into, screw the flange nut into, and then drive into the stem. I was reluctant to strike the socket with a hammer, so I drilled a hole in a block of wood I had and inserted the socket into it so that I could smack the wood with the hammer and not risk damaging the socket. It worked a treat! The flange nut makes horrible scratches on the inside of the stem tube, but I guess it has to in order to ensure the nut is nice an secure when it is put under tension by the head bolt.

With that done, I put the triple clamps in the head, placed the beveled spacer on the stem then put the cover on.

After that all I needed to do was put the spacers and handlebar mount on the stem, place the new stem cap on and tighten the bolt firm enough to hold the stem in place without any play (with the top triple clam bolts and handle bar mount clamp bolts still loose so that the stem cap could pull the stem tube up). With the head secured without play I tightened the top triple clamp bolt, lined up the handlebars so the front wheel was properly in line, and then tightened the handlebar clamp bolt. All set and ready to go!

From the first time I even saw the Sur-ron I felt it needed a front mudguard, but there is precious little out there that suits the bike that bolt right on. The mountain bike options are either too short, too narrow, and/or too thin in my opinion. Luckily I have an MCAS near me, so I took the bike in with me and the staff there let me hold up the various options they had to the bike to see if they'd work. The one I felt was the closest size was for a KTM 65SX, so I bought it. The problem was that the triple clamps don't have any bolt holes to put a fender on other than a single bolt hole at the front of the bottom clamp, so in order to get the thing mounted firmly and safely enough would require some ingenuity. What I did was cut out a cardboard template of the mud guard mounting area, then used that to up a nylon cutting board I had at home to the right size and drill holes that lined up with the ones in the fender. With a bit of Dremel work I then shaped the top of the plastic to snug up to the underside of the lower triple clamps. When that seemed to sit nicely I fashioned some aluminium plates to fit on the top of the bottom clamp so I could tighten a nut firmly to hold the fender in place. I had a few flat screw bolts that were a perfect fit for the underside of the fender so they mounted relatively flush and minimised the risk of the wheel knobs catching on the bold heads if the fork bottomed out. The top plates aren't pretty, but they do the job. Bolting it all together off the bike seemed to work well.

It wasn't until I came to fit the triples up to the bike that I realised the plates I had made were not going to work as there wasn't sufficient clearance between the back inside of the plates and the steering stem to fit up in the head. DOH! So I tried to turn them and just use the front holes, and that seemed to work fine. If I was to do it again I would just get a couple of thick washers and grind/file them to fit the front 2 mounting holes, so if you want to do this mod hopefully you can learn from my experience? I just turned the plates I made outwards and that seemed to do the trick.

Next was the rear. In my opinion the rear linkage and shock are WAY too exposed to dirt from the rear wheel. I have recently replaced the mud flap that bolts to the airbox on my KTM, so I cut that roughly to shape to see if it might work and used a couple of angle brackets I had from an Aldi kit I bough a while back. All I needed to do was drill out the holes to the right size to accommodate the bolt/screw needed to fit the threaded holes already in the swingarm, then drill holes in the flap and secure it with small nuts and bolts. It isn't pretty, but it's better than nothing for the moment - I will keep my eyes out for better solutions.

Another trick I saw Adam had done on his bikes was to turn the Sur-ron number plate sideways, drills a couple of holes in it, and fit it up. You need to bend the plate a bit up near the bracket so that the bottom of it doesn't catch on the linkage assembly, but it does a pretty good job otherwise. Between the 2 bits it at least provides some protection for the shock assembly, but I am looking for something a bit better.

With the front mudguard guard the bike now looks a lot more like a dirt bike, so I won't be able to get away with claiming it is a mountain bike anymore. I would have liked a white mudguard too, but MCAS only had pumpkin ones... I guess that makes my Sur-ron "Ready to Race" then, right? :P

I charged up the battery and took the bike out for an hour long ride to test it out and am pleased to report the mudguard it nice and secure - no flapping and flailing around like I feared night happen only using the front mount holes. Even jumping the bike and going over small logs wasn't a problem. The rear setup isn't ideal though. I am pretty sure I heard the number plate fitting the swingarm when the rear end squatted too much, so I'm keen to find a better solution there.

Oh, and this X-controller is AWESOME! Makes the bike so much nicer to ride!

Recently bought one of the X bikes that Adam got in with the X controller from the factory. Running the dnm suspension which will do for now. Interesting my mate is running a standard bike with a 58t rear sprocket and there is nothing between the bikes till about 60km/h where mine will pull away slowly. Our weights are very similar so I guess it is a good way to explain the difference that the controller has. Also with the mild regeneration braking you get mine used around 45% battery vs his 55% on our last ride. Lots of elevation changes and it will take a while to see if the range increase is mirrored on flatter terrain.

Just got the calculator out and the 58t rear gives a 20% reduction in overall gearing which equates to the reviews that say that the X controller is good for roughly that much extra power. I really need to put my 58t on and see how that goes.

After giving the bike a good run on the stock handlebars I finally decided I really do need a bit more height in the front as I felt I was hunching over a bit too much. I have a set of Renthal Twinwall CR High bend bars in the garage and had thoughts of trying those rather than buying new bars. But when I checked the clamping diameter of them versus the ones on the Surron I realised that there was a difference - the motorcycle bars have a clamping diameter of 28.6mm whereas the Surron ones are 31.8mm. So there is a difference between motorcycle and mountain bike handlebars - SURPRISE SURPRISE! I tested out shimming the bars up with some cut up Coke can strips, but ultimately decided that was too dodgy. That, and the sweep on the motorcycle bars is WAY more than the relatively straight Surron bars.

So, off I went to Chain Reaction Cycles as they appear to be the MTB version of Rocky Mountain ATV/MC to see what they had. Well, let me tell you that MTB stuff is quite a bit cheaper than dirt bike stuff! I got myself a set of a rather unfortunately named "Spank". The maximum rise you seem to be able to get on MTB bars is 50mm, so they are the ones I got.

Putting them next to the stock bars you can see they have a decent amount of extra height, but I have no idea whether they'll be enough. If not, I have seen that there are are steering stem extensions available which I could explore - there's a guy in the USA that is using something along those lines on his Surron.

My bars are 800mm wide in stock form but can be cut down to as little as 740mm if need be. I'm going to try keeping them in stock form first and then cut them down if they feel too long.

I've only had 2 rides on the bike since putting the new bars on, but already I feel they are significantly better.